Chapter Summaries

Ji Jue arranged Coast’s recovery while preparing to retaliate against the military-industrial groups behind its troubles. He gathered allies outside an abandoned settlement in the Wilderness, where a large force of bandits and Chosen Ones was waiting.

• Ji Jue told Yan Jian to rest in the hospital while Coast continued production and arranged for pollution cleanup and plant expansion.
• Ye Chun reported that Tong Shengnian had settled production-capacity issues, and Ji Jue said he planned to stir up trouble.
• Ji Jue followed Tong Ting’s lucky-day message and traveled to a remote abandoned settlement to target the people behind Coast’s attack.
• Yin Chao Yang’s defection had exposed Echo’s secret operations, and Ji Jue’s group identified more than two hundred armed bandits and over twenty Chosen Ones at the settlement.
• Ji Jue revealed that he had hired more than twenty Homecoming Knights, led by Slan, and the musclemen lined up and called him boss.

Ji Jue armed and organized Lu Feng, Slan, Old Tang, and the other mercenaries for an assault on a settlement. The attack began under cover of a storm, with drones scouting the town as Ji Jue unleashed a massive rocket-launching steel spider.

• Lu Feng admired the mercenaries and recognized that Slan had noticed his tattoo, but they let their shared history go.
• Ji Jue briefed the mercenaries on their mission and distributed firearms, armor, and ammunition before giving Lu Feng an enhanced anti-materiel rifle.
• Ji Jue warned everyone to check their Identification Bracelets, and Old Tang urged Slan to take the warning seriously.
• As a storm darkened the camp, Ji Jue sent hundreds of drones toward the settlement while the mercenaries drove after them under cover of darkness.
• The drones triggered alarm and were attacked by people in the settlement, while Ji Jue used their scans to identify threats and sent a steel spider firing rockets into the town.

Old Lin's forces destroyed the settlement and killed its Rebirth Rank defender, but the gang leaders and Chosen Ones escaped through a secret passage. Ji Jue intercepted them at the exit, where Elephant Sword Type 9, Pan Ying, was unleashed as the survivors fought back.

• Old Tang's rocket barrage and the attackers' coordinated assault overwhelmed the settlement's defenses while Old Lin tore through its defenders.
• Lu Feng, Tang Qian, Old Lin, and the Homecoming Knights surrounded and killed the Heavenly Origin Rebirth Rank fighter.
• A young White Deer told Old Lin that the remaining leaders had escaped east through a secret passage, and a distant blast and surge of bloody light followed.
• The fleeing leaders emerged from the passage and found Ji Jue waiting outside the mine tunnel.
• Ji Jue's fiendified armored vehicle stopped the scar-faced Vortex Chosen One's attack, then destroyed him with a burst of bloody light.
• Elephant Sword Type 9, Pan Ying, rose into the vehicle's giant claw and unleashed a blood-red surge that filled the sky.

Ji Jue used Little Cow and Horse and the vicious sword Pan Ying to slaughter the Chosen Ones sent to Haizhou, then his allies launched a broad counterattack against the four companies. As Tong Shengnian and Lou Guan announced Sea Tide Industry, Lü Yingyue faced a new political challenge, while the companies opposing Coast Automobile suffered unexplained production failures.

• Ji Jue unleashed Little Cow and Horse with Pan Ying, whose blood sacrifices let the steel beast cut down the Entropy Lineage and other Chosen Ones while Ji Jue dispatched attackers who approached him.
• Old Lin arrived to find Ji Jue standing among the wreckage; Ji Jue ordered Pan Ying to behave, sealed it away, and led The Horde onward to their next target.
• The four Military-Industrial Union companies found their Haizhou personnel missing, while the remaining traces included a grisly greeting left for Shang Tong Wen.
• Haizhou authorities and business interests dealt the four companies a string of setbacks, and Tong Shengnian and Lou Guan announced the merger of Coast Group and Rock Group into Sea Tide Industry.
• Lü Yingyue faced a proposed antitrust investigation of the merger, while manufacturers that had attacked Coast Automobile began suffering escalating defects and breakdowns.
• Factory Director Ji watched the rival companies' troubles from Coast Automobile Factory and joked that they might be suffering retribution.

Ji Jue used Coast Automobile Factory’s press conference to unveil its new Minivan, turning a low-budget launch into a spectacle that alarmed Haizhou’s vehicle dealers. He revealed the vehicle had carried 6,000 kilograms during a load test, then began introducing the model.

• Ji Jue explained to Isis how he had disrupted his rivals’ production, while Coast Automobile Factory finished clearing contamination and installing its new equipment.
• Ji Jue announced a January 7 press conference for Coast’s new Radish and Cabbage vehicles, prompting Haizhou’s car dealers to fear the factory’s low prices and market disruption.
• Coast distributed its vehicle specifications openly and held its press conference in a newly completed factory workshop with little ceremony.
• Ji Jue opened the event by driving a Minivan onto the stage, where its smoke, sparks, and blinding lights drew shocked reactions from the audience and livestream viewers.
• Ji Jue’s employees unloaded steel ingots from the Minivan until the scale reached 6,000 kilograms, and Ji Jue said its rated load capacity was only one ton before starting his introduction.

Ji Jue unveiled Coast Automobile Factory’s Radish, a massive, heavily armed-looking pickup with a bulletproof body and extraordinary performance. After announcing its launch next month, he revealed its base price was 1.1 million, leaving the audience stunned.

• Ji Jue introduced the Cabbage light passenger vehicle, and its low price and upgraded capacity sent the Coast Automobile website and phone lines into a frenzy.
• Ji Jue revealed the enormous Radish pickup, whose size and specifications shocked the audience and angered Shang Tong Wen, who recognized it as a rival to Echo Science and Technology’s War Horse.
• Ji Jue fired more than a hundred rounds into the Radish to demonstrate its multilayer bulletproof body, then explained its protective material and engineering.
• An employee drove the Radish through a series of autonomous stunts outside the Factory building, then got out and vomited.
• Ji Jue announced the Radish would launch next month with a base price of 1.1 million, and the venue and livestream fell silent.

At Coast Automobile Factory’s launch, Ji Jue unveiled the low-priced Radish vehicle and Chili power-assist systems, then introduced an affordable prosthetic device for people with limited mobility. Yan Jian announced its charitable testing program and final price, while a Federation Security Bureau director watched the event and praised Ji Jue.

• Ji Jue announced the Radish’s price and unveiled the Chili auxiliary power-assist system, which three employees used to lift and carry the heavy vehicle.
• Ji Jue rejected a reporter’s suggestion that Coast was returning to military production, describing the Chili as a labor-assistance tool rather than a conventional exoskeleton.
• Ji Jue presented small powered prosthetics, and Yan Jian demonstrated how they helped him stand and walk despite his injuries.
• Ji Jue announced three thousand prosthetic testing slots through partner organizations and invited Yan Jian to reveal the retail price.
• Yan Jian announced the device would cost 5,100 yuan, then cried as Ji Jue raised his hand amid the crowd’s applause.
• A white-haired Federation Security Bureau director watched the launch footage with Lü Yingyue and praised Ji Jue as an outstanding young talent.

Lü Yingyue defended her decision to challenge the Federation’s entrenched powers, arguing that she acted to preserve Tao Gong’s legacy and keep Haizhou from collapsing. The Federation Security Department Minister agreed to let the conflict proceed, while Coast Automobile announced it would enter the Barren Sea Extreme Rally.

• Lü Yingyue told the old man that Haizhou’s poverty and decline left her no choice but to gamble for influence rather than accept a compromise.
• Lü Yingyue said she refused to betray Tao Gong’s sacrifice and wanted to stop privileged officials from ruling while capable people died unheard.
• The old man confronted Lü Yingyue over her ambition and threatened to refuse her, but ultimately let the confrontation proceed after she challenged him to behead her.
• The Federation Security Department Minister told Lü Yingyue that they would fight and asked whether she could win; she replied that whoever lost worst would not be her.
• Factory Director Ji Jue announced that Coast Automobile would enter the Barren Sea Extreme Rally, a 5,960-kilometer race across the Federation.

Echo’s Shang Tong Wen accepted that he had to fight Coast and began rallying allies, while Ji Jue celebrated Coast’s recovery and his own success. Tong Shengnian urged Ji Jue to reconsider taking part in the Wasteland Sea Rally Race.

• Shang Tong Wen learned that the talks had ended with a fight and pressured Gao’s allies to join him against Coast.
• Shang Tong Wen erupted at the callers urging him to fight, then contacted Sky City, the Northern Frontier, and New Era and vowed to defeat Coast.
• Coast employees celebrated their raises and new employment contracts at a banquet, while Yan Jian got drunk and Ji Jue impressed the crowd with his drinking.
• Ye Chun congratulated Ji Jue as messages and calls poured in, and Ji Jue recognized the banquet as a celebration of his victory and completed duty.
• Tong Shengnian warned Ji Jue that taking the risk of the Wasteland Sea Rally Race was unnecessary and urged him to reconsider.

Ji Jue prepared to enter the Wasteland Sea Rally Race despite Tong Shengnian’s concerns, while Ye Xian praised his industrial prosthetic design and arranged for it to serve as his graduation project. After more than a week of preparation, Pan Ying transformed into a stronger broken blade, and Ji Jue departed for the race in Little Cow and Horse as the Workshop began relocating.

• Tong Shengnian failed to persuade Ji Jue to withdraw from the Wasteland Sea Rally Race and promised to arrange other support.
• Ye Xian praised Ji Jue’s purely industrial prosthetic system, named it his graduation project, and told him to ask the client for a budget.
• Ji Jue returned to the workshop and spent more than a week preparing for the Wasteland Sea.
• Pan Ying completed three rounds of tempering and transformed into a longer crystal-like broken blade with a dangerous insight into killing.
• Ji Jue learned that Tong Shan’s Airship had arrived, collected his belongings, and drove away in Little Cow and Horse as the Workshop prepared to relocate.

Ji Jue arrived in Huangzhou for the Wasteland Sea Rally Race, explored the crowded competitors’ camp, and met his navigator. The chapter left him bewildered as he tried to determine whether the smiling Little An was really Little An.

• Ji Jue flew to Huangzhou aboard a chartered airship and unlocked several central Federation teleportation points during the trip.
• Ji Jue reached Black River, learned about the region’s harsh winters and phlogiston heating, and drove to the rally camp.
• Ji Jue met Shi Ran, who showed him around the camp and introduced him to competitors while pointing out the hostile camps of Echo, Sky City, New Era, and Northern Frontier.
• Ji Jue returned to Coast Automobile’s site and discovered that Lü Yingyue had sent Little An to serve as his navigator.
• Ji Jue joyfully lifted and spun Little An, then became alarmed by a strange feeling and could not tell whether the person before him was truly Little An.

Ji Jue exposed An Ning’s disguise and discovered that Little An was safe at the Security Bureau, then registered with An Ning as his navigator for the Coast Team race. They passed vehicle inspection, leaving them ready to compete despite the strange, heavily modified Little Cow and Horse.

• Ji Jue recognized that the supposed Little An was An Ning in disguise and confronted her with the Containing Form Mirror.
• An Ning revealed her real appearance, confirmed Little An was at the Security Bureau, and tried to take an intimate photo with Ji Jue, but he deleted it before she could send it to A Ran.
• Ji Jue and An Ning registered for the competition as the Coast Team in Class 2000CC+, with Ji Jue driving and An Ning navigating.
• An Ning explained that she could enter the competition under her own name despite her Wild Bazaar position, and Ji Jue dismissed her suggestion that she kill Xu Chao Xian.
• The inspectors approved Little Cow and Horse, though the Artisan noted that its unusual modifications and sealed system made it far from an ordinary vehicle.

Ji Jue and An Ning passed inspection for the Wasteland Sea Rally as a bounty drew killers from across the route and the committee refused to delay the race despite a severe weather alert. Meanwhile, Tong Ting learned that the chaos surrounding the Aether Path was deliberate, and the old Heavenly Hearing urged him to act while no one could see the full picture.

• The Artisan approved Ji Jue's vehicle and gave him a sealed GPS device that would record checkpoints along the route.
• An Ning warned Ji Jue that someone wanted to kill him, and Ji Jue admitted he wanted the same for his enemies.
• A broker told a tattooed killer that the bounty targeted Ji Jue and others, had attracted many hunters, and paid extra for their heads.
• The rally committee rejected a postponement despite an approaching cold front and approved driver and navigator replacements for seven teams.
• Tong Ting and the old Heavenly Hearing discussed how Chosen Ones of the Mirror System had disrupted observation and thrown the Aether Path into chaos.
• The old man told Tong Ting that no one had confidence left and hinted that more people might die on the dangerous route.

Ji Jue arrived at the Wasteland Sea Rally Race, where he encountered a powerful rival and a navigator who tried to probe him. After the Hundred Dragons Racing Team crashed, Ji Jue used the opening ceremony to humiliate them and raced away toward the snowy plains.

• Ji Jue discussed the worsening climate with his host before attending the rally’s opening ceremony.
• Ji Jue advertised Coast Automobile Factory’s vehicles during an interview and resisted a covert mental intrusion from Sky City’s navigator.
• Ji Jue drew fourteenth starting position and noticed the navigator react to An Ning, while he watched a distant Battleship-Class Volcano Engine.
• The Reignite Racing Team, Echo, and other competitors departed before the Hundred Dragons Racing Team set off and its tire blew, sending it crashing into a snowbank.
• Ji Jue launched Little Cow and Horse down the track, spun toward the stranded Hundred Dragons vehicle, stopped just short, and splashed its occupants with mud and snow.
• Ji Jue flicked his cigarette onto the Hundred Dragons vehicle, mocked its crew, and accelerated toward the snowy plains.

Ji Jue and An Ning crossed the frozen wilderness, exchanging information about their abilities and White Deer’s lineages as they traveled. An Ning sensed danger and guided Ji Jue off their route just before a massive storm swept over the mountains toward them.

• Ji Jue drove Little Cow and Horse across the snowfield while An Ning teased him and tested his ability to hide the signs of his movements.
• An Ning revealed that she was a Rank 8 Rebirth of White Deer’s [Flying Light] lineage and explained her hunting role and the scarcity of worthy prey.
• An Ning urged Ji Jue to help her find wolves to hunt, then sensed danger approaching from the west.
• Ji Jue followed An Ning’s warning and drove Little Cow and Horse down a steep slope as the ridge collapsed and an earthquake shook the wilderness.
• A vast storm rose beyond the mountains, swallowing the landscape as it advanced toward Ji Jue and An Ning.

Ji Jue and An Ning survived a sudden blizzard by sheltering beside an ice cliff, while Ji Jue discovered that his prosthetic-limb project was generating an unexpected flow of tinder. After the storm eased, a rescue convoy arrived, and An Ning suggested they make a move.

• Ji Jue drove Little Cow and Horse through the blizzard while An Ning climbed onto its roof and guided them to shelter beside an ice cliff.
• An Ning returned to the cabin unharmed and warmed her icy hands by holding Ji Jue's, teasing him as he endured it.
• Ji Jue sensed that the Prosthetic Limb Assistance System was generating more tinder than Coast Automobile Factory's vehicles, and realized its social impact was driving the change.
• As the storm eased, An Ning played in the snow and made a huge snowball with a crude portrait of Ji Jue.
• A rescue convoy arrived searching for survivors, and An Ning asked Ji Jue whether they should make a move.

An Ning destroyed the convoy sent to locate Ji Jue, but a missile strike followed and detonated far from them. Ji Jue revealed that the attack was not over, as a hidden camp’s own missiles launched uncontrollably and destroyed the camp.

• Ji Jue sent An Ning to confront the approaching convoy while he stayed behind with tea.
• An Ning disabled the convoy’s vehicles, evaded their gunfire, and killed the attackers with her hair clip and an ice blade.
• A cluster-bomb missile struck twenty kilometers away, and Ji Jue explained that Deus Ex Machina had not caused it to miss.
• At a concealed camp, Isis appeared on the control screens as the missile launchers activated without orders.
• The launched missiles turned back toward the camp and destroyed it in a massive explosion.

Ji Jue and An Ning used satellite interference and missiles to throw the Northern Frontier into chaos, while several racing teams withdrew from the Wasteland Sea Rally Race. After An Ning killed an escaping Chosen One with Pan Ying, Ji Jue executed a surviving enemy and set out with her to kill the rest.

• Ji Jue’s earlier detection of a satellite locator let Isis’s Hand feed false targeting data to the missiles, which struck across the snowfield and plunged the race venue into chaos.
• Shi Ran received orders to withdraw the Reignite Racing Team after learning that the Northern Frontier’s leaders had made a desperate wager, and several other teams soon withdrew as well.
• An Ning regretted that an Entropy Lineage Chosen One escaped, but Ji Jue gave her Pan Ying, which she threw through the clouds to kill him.
• Ji Jue crushed a surviving Vortex Lineage Chosen One after confronting him with the cruelty he had inflicted on others.
• Ji Jue and An Ning left on Little Cow and Horse, vowing to hunt down every remaining enemy.

Ji Jue and Sky City's Maya attacked each other with their supernatural abilities as their cars converged in a blizzard, but Ji Jue broke Maya's mental assault and disabled Sky City's vehicle. He then revealed that Coast's apparent retreat was a feint, killed Sky City's manta ray disaster beast, and charged at their car.

• The race's popularity surged after footage of Ji Jue's clash with Hundred Dragons spread online, while dangerous weather and wreckage left many rally enthusiasts dead in the wilderness.
• Satellite footage showed the rival teams' defenses against Ji Jue's missiles, while Ji Jue kept driving Little Cow and Horse and harvesting materials from roadside threats.
• On the second day, Coast's car and Sky City's car converged at a mountain pass as a Red Tag blizzard approached, and both accelerated into the storm.
• Maya used a combined Ascension and Heart Pivot attack to overwhelm Ji Jue, but he released Pan Ying and flooded their mental connection with killing intent, forcing Maya to sever it.
• Ji Jue used Deus Ex Machina to disrupt Sky City's vehicle, then turned Little Cow and Horse around inside the storm and split Maya's manta ray disaster beast in two.
• Ji Jue leapt from the beast's wreckage toward Sky City's car and struck at it with Pan Ying.

Ji Jue and his companions ambushed Sky City's vehicle in the mountain pass, killing Maya and the Heavenly Origin driver before escaping the blizzard. Their vehicle emerged from the storm and continued toward the Kunwu Plateau, with Ji Jue marking Sky City as their first target.

• Pan Ying's prepared strike shattered Sky City's defenses, while An Ning's glimmer weakened the driver's telekinetic barrier and Little Cow and Horse rammed the vehicle.
• Maya released her calamity beast and used Revision Veto to erase Ji Jue's bullet, but An Ning's Flying Light pierced Maya's heart and annihilated her soul.
• Ji Jue captured Maya's freed calamity beast with mercury threads, and Pan Ying's blade broke through the driver's barrier and killed him.
• Little Cow and Horse erased the remaining evidence, retrieved Maya's corpse, and returned to vehicle form as it sped onward.
• The vehicle emerged from the blizzard to cheers and headed toward the Kunwu Plateau, while Ji Jue marked Sky City as the first target in his notebook.